A hospital building in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has collapsed following a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall.
The affected facility, identified as UNICEM Hospital, reportedly collapsed on Thursday, August 13, after hours of heavy rain destabilised the hillside where the hospital was located.
Videos circulating on social media showed parts of the hospital collapsing as residents watched from a safe distance.
A Calabar-based pharmacist, Mekzy, who shared one of the videos on X, attributed the incident to a landslide triggered by the heavy rainfall.
There was no official confirmation of casualties as of Friday. Although eyewitnesses said the incident caused panic in the area, emergency authorities had yet to confirm whether anyone was trapped or injured.
Footage from the scene showed a large mass of earth sliding into the hospital premises before parts of the building collapsed, leaving concrete debris and exposed reinforcement rods.
The incident has raised fresh concerns about Calabar’s vulnerability to landslides, flooding and erosion, particularly during the rainy season.
It has also renewed concerns about construction on unstable slopes, poor drainage systems and weak enforcement of building regulations.
The collapse is expected to fuel calls for stricter building controls and proper geotechnical assessments before construction in areas prone to erosion and landslides.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Cross River State Government nor emergency management agencies had issued a detailed statement on the incident.